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Later, Clementine and Elliot returned to their dorm. While Elliot was busy preparing the herbs they'd gathered, Clementine worked on his essay—the sooner he got it out of the way, the better.

          He sighed quietly, tapping his foot under the table as he hastily wrote down everything he'd learned from both the history lesson and his allies. And while he worked, he became lost in his thoughts. He wasn't exactly sure what he was feeling right now; all he knew was that it felt like something was brewing inside him. Could it be anxiety? Eagerness? Whatever it was, it had him distracted.

          Three of Ian's friends were dead. Connor, Horace, and Lloyd. That left eight names on his list including Ian. He knew there had to be more to discover in the student files but knowing three more were gone already brought him some relief. However, it was probably going to make things even harder. Ian was going to think he had killed his goons, and he was going to come for him. That sent a shiver down his spine. He'd already been beaten up twice, he wasn't sure if he could take another beating like that any time soon.

          He scratched at the oily ointment he'd not long applied to his bruised face and tutted. It itched but he had to leave it alone. He leaned back in his seat, tapping his paper with his pen. Just two more paragraphs and he'd be done. Coins: he'd write about what Mathew had said about golden coins. He leaned forward, hastily writing down every word he recalled.

          Mathew, Mavis, and Elliot all seemed fine with what he'd revealed. Obviously, death wasn't something so alarming here. He was thankful Elliot hadn't screamed and was glad to see Mathew acting defensively, too. His allies were still very much that, and now he wondered...should he tell them the whole truth? Should he tell his allies he was actually here to kill the Ravenblood?

          No, that might scare them. If he revealed his sole intention for coming to Aldergrove was to wipe out a dangerous society, they might relinquish their loyalty. He couldn't risk that. Perhaps there was a way around it, though. A white lie—what was the harm in that? He could just convince them that killing the Ravenblood was their best shot right now because Ian wasn't going to stop coming after them, and when they eventually killed Ian, the rest of the Ravenblood would come after them. That part wasn't a lie. Ian was already suspicious that someone was targeting him, and it wouldn't be long until that suspicion spread.

          Just as Clementine finished his last sentence, he heard a knock at the dormitory door. He frowned, listening as Elliot put down whatever he had been holding and headed across the creaking floorboards towards the door. And when he opened it, something of a startled gasp stifled his greeting.

          A searing, anxious burn jolted through Clementine's body. He flew to his feet, afraid he might be about to see his roommate with a blade through his chest or a tear in his throat. But when he emerged into the lounge, he found that Elliot was standing at the door with a sceptical glare on his face.

          "Who is it?" Clementine asked.

          Elliot pushed the door so that it was wide open, revealing who was on the other side.

          Clementine's concerned frown turned into an aggravated scowl.

          "Hey babe."

          Sebastien. That guy.

          "What the hell do you want?" Clementine grumbled.

          "Says you were expecting him," Elliot sneered, glaring at the smirking, white-haired kid.

          "I wasn—"

          "Sorry I ditched you earlier," Sebastien interjected, slinking past Elliot, who grunted and stropped. "I had to be somewhere."

          "I didn't say you could—"

          "So, which one's yours? This one, I imagine," Sebastien interrupted, moving past Clementine and into his room.

          Speechless, Clementine stood there for a moment. Then, he looked over his shoulder at Elliot, who looked just as astounded.

          "What's he doing here?" he whispered. "The guy from lunch."

          "I don't fricken know," Clementine uttered irritably. "Why'd you let him in?"

          "I didn't mean to!"

          Clementine rolled his eyes and stormed into his room.

          Sebastien, who was holding Clementine's essay, looked over at him and smiled. "You spelt Caedis wrong, you kn—"

          Snatching his essay, Clementine slammed his door shut and pointed at Sebastien with the paper. "What the hell are you doing?!" he growled quietly.

          "I thought I'd come see you," he said with a smirk.

          Clementine slammed his essay down on his desk. "I'm not in the mood for this right now."

          "For what?"

          "You! First, you're strangling me in a bathroom, then you're strangling me in a hall. You disappear for a week, only to return when I'm getting the shit kicked out of me—and then you're on some weird law jury, too. You stop Ian from coming near us at lunch, and just recently, you kill three kids to stop them from killing me! And don't tell me you did it because you're not done with me or something, either. Start telling me what you really want...or I'll tell the professors I saw you kill those kids," he said firmly. Ha! That'll teach him.

          But...Sebastien laughed quietly. Of course he did. "Are you going to snitch on me, little mousey?" he asked, a babyish tone in his voice. "I don't think the professors are going to believe a little commoner like you over someone as esteemed as myself," he said with a smug grin on his face.

          Clementine scowled. "My allies will vouch for me."

          "Will they?" he tested.

          They glared at one another. Clementine gritted his teeth in anger and Sebastien kept a sly smile. Someone had to say something, or this might just go on forever.

          However, after a few long, dragging moments...Sebastien crossed his arms. "I've been watching you—"

          "That's bloody obvious," he grumbled. "Stalking me, more like it."

          He smirked. "If that's what you wanna call it."

          Clementine growled impatiently.

          Sebastien turned around and wandered over to Clementine's bed. He sat down and man-spread, sighing loudly. Clementine's eye twitched as he glared down at him—he wanted to scream at him to get the hell off his bed, but he knew that would start another round of who can out-snark the other.

          "I've been watching Ian, too."

          Okay, now he had his interest piqued.

          "At first, I didn't really get it. Well, I had my suspicions."

          "What are you talking about?"

          "Well, Harrison disappeared on day one."

          Clementine felt anxiety beginning to pool in his stomach. He wanted to blurt that he had nothing to do with that, but that would only make him look guilty.

          "Ian quickly worked out he was dead, even before the teachers announced that ten kids were gone. Ian thinks it was the Gibbous Blood wolf walkers, but they wouldn't dare conspire against the Ravenblood."

          His blue eyes widened. Sebastien did know who Ian was—he knew about the Ravenblood, too. And Clementine wondered...just how much did he know?

          "So, I wondered...who would kill someone as high-profile as Harrison Darby?"

          Was that a rhetorical question? Clementine shrugged.

          Sebastien's smile grew. He reached into his pocket—Clementine backed off, ready to defend himself, but when Sebastien pulled out his clenched fist, he scowled sceptically. However, his scowl swiftly became a confused, almost horrified frown as the boy opened his hand...revealing Harrison's ring.

          Clementine's jaw chattered. "You...how...I—"

          "Shh," Sebastien murmured, holding his finger over his own lips. He placed the ring on Clementine's nightstand. "I saw you leaving the library that night—"

          "That's why you've been following me...."

          He smirked, slowly standing up.

          "And...it was you that broke into my room the other night."

          "See, now you're catching on," Sebastien said, prowling closer.

          Clementine tried to muster a hostile glare, but he was so overwrought with anxiety and confliction that all he could do was slowly back off and stare at Sebastien's smug face.

          "What I couldn't really figure out though was why you did it," he said, and as Clementine's back hit the wall, he sprung forward and grabbed his throat, keeping him from moving away. "So, I followed you, watched you, and tried to work it out. It was very brave of you to target Ian next—you do know he's the society's subaltern, right?"

          He didn't know that.

          "So, tell me...little mousey; why are you targeting the Ravenblood?"

          "I don't know what you're talking—"

          "Don't—" he tightened his grip on Clementine's throat, "—do that. Don't lie. I know when you're lying."

          Staring into his eyes, the remainder of Clementine's anger vanished. This time, all he could see on Sebastien's face was something predatory. Right now, it really looked like he was about to snap his neck. He wasn't playing this time.

          He tried to swallow, but his saliva refused to pass Sebastien's tight grip. "I...I...."

          Sebastien loosened his grip just enough so that he could catch his breath.

          Clementine hesitated. He wasn't sure what to do. If he didn't tell him, he was sure he'd kill him. And if he did tell him...he had no idea what he'd do with the information. He knew that Sebastien was a law student, and he'd also heard the law students looked into the murders. It almost seemed as though Sebastien was eager to crack the case—would he get some huge reward if he did? Was that the reason behind all of this? Was that why he'd been stalking him? Saving him? Was that why he'd kept him alive? To crack the case—to find out who killed Harrison and why?

          He glared at him, grabbing his wrist to try and pull his hand off his throat, but that only made Sebastien scowl and tighten his grip once again.

          "Tell me," he growled, moving his other hand closer to his face. "Or I'll start cutting off parts of you."

          Clementine stared in horror as the claw-like fingernails on Sebastien's hand extended. "T-they killed my sister!" he uttered.

          Sebastien waited.

          "They poisoned our home, but that wasn't enough—nothing's ever enough for them! We needed the medicine, and she went to rob the carriage. I don't know what happened, but they tore her apart and they left her there! I had to find her a week later in a fucking pit!" he shouted. "They just left her there!"

          The aggravated expression on Sebastien's face shifted into something of a sceptical stare, and as Clementine gritted his teeth in anguish and turned his head away, the boy frowned in confliction.

          "I didn't want to let her die for nothing," he uttered painfully. "We only ever had each other—we stuck together through everything! She risked her life for me more times than I can remember; the least I could do was avenge her."

          "So you're here to kill them for revenge?"

          "That's what I said," he growled, glaring at him.

          "You're gonna destroy this generation...before they can create another."

          He nodded. "They do nothing but destroy families and tear the world around them apart. Anette was the last straw."

          "Anette—that was her name?"

          "Yes."

          Sebastien didn't loosen his grip, but he did lower his other hand.

          "The Ravenblood are cursed—sickly. They die before they reach their thirties. So if I kill all their kids, that's it. It'll be the end of them."

          Staring at him, Sebastien frowned. "I heard Ian's parents were sick. I didn't know about the curse, though."

          Seizing his chance, Clementine shoved Sebastien away, and as the white-haired kid stumbled back, Clementine swiftly summoned a blade and pointed it at him.

          But Sebastien wasn't startled. Instead, he sat back down on Clementine's bed and sighed deeply. Then, as he dragged his hand over the back of his neck, he looked over at Clementine. "Medicine?"

          Clementine scowled. He wasn't going to—

          "For the poison, right? The stuff they spread around DeiganLupus."

          He nodded.

          "So...you got colligo-interitus. That's why you reek of death."

          Offended, Clementine waved his blade at him. "Get the hell—"

          "How long do you have?"

          "That's none of your business," he growled.

          "Judging by the smell, I'd say...five months—maybe four."

          How the hell did he know that?

          "But as far as I know, the clouds didn't reach Ulrora...but you're not really from Ulrora, are you?"

          His scowl thickened as Sebastien smirked.

          "You forged your papers—maybe you're not such a dumb little mousey after all," he said.

          "Get out," he warned, taking a step closer, making sure to keep his silver blade pointed at Sebastien.

          "Where the hell did you get the money to get into this place?"

          "I said, get out!"

          In the blink of an eye, Sebastien jumped to his feet and snatched Clementine's blade. Startled, Clementine stumbled back, but Sebastien didn't come at him with the knife. Instead, he just stood there with it, smirking over at him.

          "Do you know how many Ravenblood are here?"

          Clementine frowned. "No."

          "What was your original plan? I assume you had one unless you came here thinking you'd get each of them alone every time."

          He scoffed—

          "Come on, you've already admitted to murder and fraud. Telling me the rest of the story isn't going to dig you any deeper. Tell me."

          "Why? Will you get bonus points on your little law student report card when you turn me in?"

          Sebastien laughed amusedly. "Who said anything about turning you in?"

          Clementine opened his mouth to speak...but didn't. He watched as Sebastien placed his dagger down on his desk, and as the kid smiled over at him, he frowned in confusion. "It's...what you do, isn't it? You law students. You investigate and—"

          "You're right, we do. But that doesn't mean we have to snitch," he said deviously. "Where's the fun in that? I've quite enjoyed watching you scamper around after Ian so far; I'm not ready to give up my front-row seat just yet."

          "Front-row...what?"

          "Is that what you were doing out in the conservatory on Saturday?"

          "You...saw?"

          "Of course I did. I've been stalking you, remember?" he said with a grin, sitting back on Clementine's bed. "I didn't follow you in, but it was a little weird you being there past midnight. Were you setting up a trap? Planning to drown Ian in the pool?"

          "No," he sneered.

          "Then what?"

          He shrugged. "I don't—"

          "Lies, little mouse—I don't like them."

          With an irritated scowl, Clementine crossed his arms. "Death caps."

          "Death caps?"

          "They're...mushrooms."

          "Plants?"

          "Yes, plants, you idiot—"

          "Hey!"

          "This is a school! Surely you'd know what a mushroom is by now!"

          "I take law, not plant classes!"

          "I don't take plant classes either but I still know what a fricken mushroom is!"

          "I know what a mushroom is!"

          "Then why did you just..." he stopped, exhaling deeply. "Death caps are the most poisonous mushrooms you can find here. There's no antidote and they kill slowly and painfully."

           Sebastien smirked. "Very fitting for your enemies, huh?"

          He rolled his eyes.

          "So, that's your plan? How are you gonna get them to ingest the mushrooms?"

          "Well...I haven't really..." he paused and scowled. Why was he even telling him this?

          "You haven't worked it out yet?" Sebastien questioned.

          "I didn't say that."

          "Well, it seems like that's the case."

          "Why do you even care? Either go and tell the professors or leave me alone," he grumbled. "I'm over this conversation."

          But before he could turn around, Sebastien jumped up and grabbed his arm. "I already said, I'm not gonna snitch—"

          "Then what do you want from me?" he growled, yanking his arm out of his grip.

          "Nothing—well, I kinda like watching you, so...I guess that's what I want."

          He scoffed. "To watch me kill Ian?"

          "Yep."

          "And then what? Snitch when it's over?"

          Sebastien shrugged. "Maybe. And I mean, it won't be any loss to you. You'd have killed your enemies; I'd have solved the most pretentious case to ever befall Aldergrove—win-win."

          "So, that's your game, then. You wanna use me to climb to the top of whatever the hell you law students got going on over there."

          "Exactly," he said, grinning. "And, just to sweeten the deal, I'll even help you out a little. Ian chugs down so much soda his blood is probably syrup. If you're gonna sneak those killer mushrooms into something, I'd suggest that."

          Clementine gritted his teeth, but his anger swiftly morphed into intrigued. "Really?"

          "Yeah. It'd probably be easier to sneak them into a bottle or a glass when he doesn't drink straight from the bottle. He gets these little cans, too, but he'd be able to tell that was tampered with."

          "And you know this...how?"

          "I told you, I've been watching him, too."

          For a moment, Clementine pondered. He still disliked this kid and he'd much rather work with anyone else, but he had several good points. Not only was this arrangement beneficial to both of them, but it also pretty much solidified the fact neither of them could back out or betray the other. If Clementine tried to snitch on Sebastien, he'd use his status to convince the professors and jury that it was actually he who had killed Ian's friends—he also had evidence he killed Horace. But if Sebastien tried to hand that evidence in early, then Clementine would fight with all his might to ensure the jury and professors knew it was Sebastien who had killed those three boys. After all, Sebastien was the one with fangs—he had ripped Horace's throat out with his teeth, not him. And on top of that, Sebastien wouldn't get nearly as much clout if he handed him in right now. No, he wanted to wait until he'd taken out all the Ravenblood. Surely, bringing in the murderer of that many high-profile students would name Sebastien some sort of legend. Wow, what a devious, slimy little creep this white-haired kid was.

          "Fine," Clementine said firmly.

          "Fine?"

          "I accept," he said, holding out his hand. "You 'watch' me take out the Ravenblood," he mocked, "and then you can hand me in."

          The smirk on Sebastien's face grew wider. He took Clementine's hand, but instead of shaking it, he abruptly pulled him closer. "You just made the best deal in your life, little mouse."

          Revolted that their faces were a mere inch apart, Clementine pulled away from him. "And stop calling me little mouse," he growled.

          "No."

          Rolling his eyes, he headed over to his door. "Now leave. I have an essay to finish."

          Sebastien snatched Harrison's ring from the nightstand and then slinked over to him. "This was fun," he said as Clementine pulled his door open. "I'll be seeing you again real soon."

          "Get out," he grumbled, shoving him out into the lounge. Then, as Sebastien laughed quietly, he headed over to the dormitory door, pulled it open, and watched him leave. The kid turned around to say something else, but Clementine slammed the door in his face.

          "What was all that about?" Elliot called, poking his head out of his room.

          With a deep sigh, Clementine shook his head and made his way back over to his door. "Nothing. I'm gonna get back to work."

          "Uh...okay, well, I'll just be working on these offerings."

          "All right."

          Clementine closed his door and slumped down onto his bed. He didn't know what to make of what had just happened, but it brought a hint of a smile to his face. He might despise that white-haired creep but having him onside was a huge improvement. With him and Mathew, Ian wouldn't dare come near him. And to think all Sebastien wanted was the clout of handing him in for his murders once it was all over...he couldn't really have wished for a better trade-off.

          After everything that had happened—the near-deaths, the monsters, the beatings...things were actually starting to look up. Three of Ian's goons were dead, he now had great allies...and pretty soon, Ian would be as dead as Harrison.

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